1. Technical Field
This invention relates to chairs and, more particularly, to an orthopedic chair for supporting a person wearing a cast.
2. Background of the Invention
There are approximately 250 million residents of the United States and each year there are about 4 million new births. Of the new births, 3-5% (120,000-200,000) of the infants have congenital hip dislocation in which the rounded head of the thigh bone does not sit properly in the hip socket. Treatment of congenital hip dislocation has a high success rate when diagnosed and treated on or about the fifth month after birth. Treatment typically involves abduction and splintage of the unstable hip(s).
After surgery, doctors place the infant in a hip spica cast, a form of splintage which is a full or nearly-full body cast, for approximately three months. The infant in the hip spica cast must lie on his/her back or front and be turned every four hours. Typically the infant's legs are positioned in an outwardly projecting fashion, approximately parallel to a plane defined by the infant's shoulders, such that the infant's torso and legs form a inverted "T"-shape. The hip spica cast positions the infant's legs in this fashion to allow the infant to lie comfortably on either his/her back or front.
Conventional chairs normally used for feeding infants cannot be employed since they fail to accommodate the infant's outwardly projecting legs.
Able to lie only on his/her back or front, the infant is forced to assume a restricted life. In addition, when lying on his/her back or front, the infant can develop bed sores which develop when the infant lies in one position too long. Common places for bed sores include heels, elbows, shoulder blades, and tail bones.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a chair which allows the infant wearing a hip spica cast to assume a more normal life and to reduce bed sores caused by lying on the infant's back or front too long.